Our fridge freezer has broken down. I’ve not started to panic yet, luckily my mother has some room in her freezer for storage but there is still a lot of food that I need to save. I’m just praying when they come to fix it next week I will not hear the words “we’ll not be able to get the part before Christmas”.
When we lived in Canada I remember at this time of year we could open the back door and use the wall of snow as a deep freeze.
All the beautiful fruit I had stored to see me through to next summer I’m going to have to find a new way to eat up or preserve for the next few weeks.
Fruit leathers are essentially dried fruit puree’s. Cut into strips and rolled up, these thin, pliable sheets of fruit make tasty and relatively healthy sweets, they will keep in the fridge for up to a month or can be frozen – if you have a freezer!
This recipe is taken directly from the book preserves by Pam Corbin
. She calls it a fruit leather but we have been making beef jerky this week so I’m following a theme.
Apple & Blackberry Jerky
Ingredients
500g blackberries
500g apples, peel cored & chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
150g wild flower honey
Method
Preheat the oven to a very low setting – I use 60C. Line two baking sheets, measuring about 24 x 30cm, with baking parchment.
Put the blackberries, apples and lemon juice into a pan. Cook gently until soft and pulpy, about 20 minutes. Rub the mixture through a sieve or mouli into a bowl; you should have about 700g smooth fruit puree. Add the honey and mix well.
Divide the puree between the two baking sheets. Spread it out lightly with the back of a spoon until the puree covers the sheets in a thin, even layer.
Put the baking sheets in the oven and leave for 12-18 hours, until the fruit puree is completely dry and peels off the parchment easily. Roll up the leather in greaseproof paper and store in an airtight tin. Use within 5 months.
Variations
There is no end to the possible variations here – you can turn any fruit into a leather. All you need do is create a smooth thick puree with your chosen fruit before drying it out. Try plums, spicing the puree with a little cinnamon; or peaches, infusing them with a few honeysuckle blossoms as they cook. For a savory leather use half and half apples and tomatoes seasoned with celery salt.
